Migrant crime, which Donald Trump has described as a “new category of crime” as a result of the border crisis under Joe Biden, is continuing to drain public resources. Wanted murderers, rapists, and kidnappers were recently apprehended, along with predators charged with targeting children in the U.S.
THE MS-13 RACKETEER.
On Monday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported that Jose Lainez-Martinez, an MS-13 gang member based in Silver Spring, Maryland, had been imprisoned for 24 years. Lainez-Martinez had been involved in “a pattern of racketeering activity that included murder, conspiracy to commit murder, extortion, and drug distribution.”
“The acts of Jose Lainez-Martinez and other members of this violent transnational criminal organization led to the tragic loss of a young man’s life,” confirmed a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agent.
The investigation into the Salvadoran gangster consumed resources from HSI, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Montgomery County Police Department.
In a separate case reported on Wednesday, an MS-13 member described as a “violent felon and a threat to Maryland residents” was arrested by ICE deportation officers. He had previously been convicted of conspiracy, armed robbery, and weapons charges in the U.S.
THE BRAZILIAN PEDOPHILE.
ICE reported the detention of an accused pedophile in Massachusetts on Monday. He was initially let loose among the public by the courts in defiance of a detainer request.
The unnamed Brazilian crossed the U.S. border illegally in July 2021. He was detained by Border Patrol but soon released. By 2023 he had been arrested for driving without a license and, more seriously, rape of a child and enticement of a child under 16.
In January 2024, he was arrested as a fugitive from justice. ICE lodged a detainer request, but Milford District Court failed to honor it when he posted bail. ICE finally took him into custody in late March.
“This Brazilian noncitizen is accused of sexually abusing a Massachusetts minor,” commented ICE field office director Todd Lyons.
“Every second he spends roaming free in our communities, he represents a potential threat to the children of our communities.”
THE RAPIST AND THE KIDNAPPER.
On Wednesday, ICE confirmed the deportation of another Brazilian, wanted in his home country for “the offense of rape of a vulnerable individual, or statutory rape of a minor 14 years of age or younger.”
Altair Jose Portuense-Lana’s deportation was a convoluted process. He first crossed the U.S. border illegally in July 2021, being apprehended by Border Patrol but released under a so-called Alternative to Detention (ATD) program.
By 2022, he had been arrested for the assault and battery of a family member and “intimidation of witnesses, jurors and persons furnishing information in connection with criminal proceedings.” He was hit with “multiple charges of threats to commit a crime and with violation of a restraining/abuse prevention order” later the same year.
Not until March 2024 did an immigration judge issue an order for his removal, with ICE noting he was “being sought for sex offenses in Brazil and represented a threat to New England residents as long as he was walking our streets.”
Also on Wednesday, ICE confirmed the arrest of a Romanian man wanted for kidnapping in his home country. The unnamed 25-year-old, who had been deported once before, was caught reentering the U.S. at the Rio Grande Valley border sector in May 2021. Released with an order to appear before an immigration judge, ICE discovered him living in Fresno, California, in March this year.
THE COLOMBIAN KILLER.
On Thursday, ICE confirmed the arrest of a Colombian illegal alien convicted of premeditated murder in his home country. After serving just four years in prison, the unnamed 44-year-old made his way to the U.S., entering undetected as a so-called “gotaway.”
He was arrested in September 2022 but denied having a criminal record and was paroled through an ATD program. It was a full year before ICE realized they had cut loose a convicted murderer and another five months before he was taken into custody in Hartford, Connecticut.
“This Colombian national lied to immigration officials about his violent past in order to gain entrance into the United States,” commented an ICE field office director. “We cannot allow convicted murderers to roam freely in our New England neighborhoods.”
FREE TO KILL.
On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed a driver who killed Kurt Englehart, an adviser to Democrat Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, is an illegal alien.
Elmer Rueda-Linares “entered the United States March 12, 2021, at or near the Rio Grande City, Texas, Port of Entry without inspection by an immigration official,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) admitted.
“United States Customs and Border Protection arrested him, and he was later released on his own recognizance June 22, 2021.”
After years at large in the country, Rueda-Linares was involved in the deadly crash in Nevada on April 6. He was initially charged with a felony hit-and-run, but this has been downgraded to failing to stop at the scene of an accident.
THE SCALE OF THE PROBLEM.
The above examples of illegal aliens victimizing U.S. residents and consuming public resources are illustrative rather than exhaustive. Some indication of the full scale of migrant crime, dismissed as “negligible” by leftist commentators such as MSNBC’s Joy Reid, was given by Rep. Glenn Grothman, Chairman of the House National Security, Border, and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee, during a hearing on Tuesday.
Grothman indicated that ICE is attempting to monitor at least 6 million illegal aliens. Of these, 617,000 — greater than the population of Wyoming — are known to have criminal records or pending criminal charges.
“The fact is that illegal aliens should not be in the country in the first place and able to commit these crimes,” Grothman said, urging the Biden regime to “stop releasing illegal aliens into the country in droves.”
"We have a new category of crime. It's called migrant crime, and it's going to be worse than any other form of crime," @realDonaldTrump told Laura Ingraham. pic.twitter.com/FrdQLSFKPB
— Jack Montgomery (@JackBMontgomery) February 23, 2024
Read The National Pulse’s previous migrant crime round-up here.
